Cerita Pendek Tragic Love Romance & Novel Parallel World

On 1st of June, I unexpectedly receive a phone call from my future daughter. With a smile on my face, I ask her, "Sweetheart, are Mommy and Daddy still happy and in love?" She proudly replies, "Of course! Mommy and Daddy have a great relationship. They never fight. He says she is the person he loves the most in his life!" My face flushes with embarrassment. I think to myself that Malcolm Gray really shouldn't be saying things like that in front of a child. Lost in happiness, I continue asking questions. "Then did you take my last name, Rosewood, or Daddy's last name, Gray?" She falls silent for two seconds, like she is confused. Then, she replies, "I have Daddy's last name, but my mommy's last name is Parker. Her name is Summer Parker." I freeze at those words. Summer Parker is the name of my best friend since childhood. Just yesterday, she and Malcolm end up in the hospital after getting into a physical fight because of an argument involving me.

The tenth year since I accidentally landed in modern-day America, and the system finally noticed me—a glitch in its timeline. It told me that in three days, I'd be sent back to where I truly belonged. Back to London. Back to my era. And I—I used to be one of the most powerful men in the entire British Empire. Alexander William Windsor. First in line to the British throne. The system gave me seventy-two hours. A countdown to say goodbye to this century. Day one, my fiancée Evelyn told me our wedding had to be called off. Because Ryan—the boy she'd grown up with—had been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Day two, Evelyn brought Ryan home. To our home. She said he had nowhere else to go. Asked if he could stay. Just for a while. Day three, Evelyn told me she was taking Ryan to Italy. To clear his head. ...That was supposed to be our honeymoon. No one noticed the numbers on my wrist, ticking down. Ten years of being in the wrong place. Time to end it. This time—I'm not staying for anyone.

The day I discovered that Esther Mabry was having an affair, my severe depression drove me to the rooftop. It was my older brother, Adam Abernathy, who stabbed her and dragged her back to me so she could atone. Under Adam's watch, Esther truly changed. She deleted every man from her contacts and came home on time every day. Even when she stepped outside to take out the trash, she told me beforehand. I believed our battered marriage had finally been given a fresh start, right up until the day I received a call from myself, 10 years in the future. Looking at the haggard man on the screen, I asked carefully, "Ten years later, and I'm still sick?" He said nothing. He forced a smile that looked more painful than tears, then turned the camera around. On the screen, Esther had Adam pinned against the storage-room wall. Her eyes were filled with anguish she had held back for far too long. "We've lived under the same roof for 10 years, and you won't even let me touch you. How long are you going to keep punishing me?" Adam kept his eyes shut as tears ran down his face. "We did something unforgivable to Hugo. Staying apart is the only way we can atone." I froze, cold to the bone. The man I had searched every corner of Seacliff for and never found had been the brother I loved most all along. Esther had hidden him so well that he lived right under my nose for 10 years, and I never noticed. The camera turned back. The older version of me leaned close to the screen and laughed like a madman. "You heard that? As long as you're still alive, everyone suffers. The moment you die, we're all set free."

After graduation, just before I was supposed to start working at my boyfriend's company, I got a phone call from myself twelve years in the future. I could barely get the question out fast enough. "Well? Did my genius boyfriend's startup make it?" My future self laughed softly. "It did. His company goes public when he's thirty-two, and by thirty-five, his net worth is over ten billion." I was ecstatic. "So I make it big in the industry right alongside him, right?" There was a long silence on the other end. "You have two kids, and at the company, you're in charge of... ordering takeout, filing reimbursements, hiring people, and putting together reports." I froze. Her words suddenly came faster. "So listen to me. Take a different job. "Don't work for him and spend your time doing whatever needs doing. Take the development job at that major tech company that offered you a role. "Three years from now, the Director of Engineering gets fired for bribery. You'll have a shot at taking his place, with an annual salary of five million. "Once you get that first year's salary, don't buy a car. Buy two small apartments in Briarport's old district. Two years later, that area will be redeveloped to support a new free trade zone. The relocation compensation will be enough for you to start your own company without taking out a loan." I hurried to ask, "What kind of company?" "AI." She told me about all the changes the industry would go through over the next twelve years, then carefully walked me through several crucial turning points I needed to remember. There were only ten seconds left on the call. I stopped her before she could hang up. "One last question." "Xenia Wells, is your dream still alive?"